“Trump and others say the requirement could discourage independent and first-time voters from casting primary ballots in Virginia, where primaries are open to all registered voters,” reports the Washington Post.

According to the Post, the Virginia GOP made the change after an executive committee vote on December 17th to require a nine word pledge in the states primary on March 1. The pledge reads: “My signature below indicates that I am a Republican.”

The idea of using of a voter pledge in this cycle may have developed after the party struggled to find unity following conservative Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) beating GOP establishment’s former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in 2014, the Post suggests.

The Virginia GOP said both parties have required voter pledges in the past.

UPDATE: A source tells Breitbart News the state party informed all campaigns of the change last September, and none apparently expressed concern at that time.